|
Expression of Interest are invited for Yemen Financial Inclusion and Development Diagnostic Description: The World Bank (WB) is seeking to hire a firm to undertake a National Financial Inclusion and Development (NFID) Diagnostic for Yemen. The firm will work with the staff team to a) conduct a survey for financial service providers (FSPs) based in the regions of Yemen under the control of the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG), including those that operate across all of Yemen; and b) interview key relevant public and private sector stakeholders. Once a draft diagnostic has been prepared, the firm will also work with the WB staff in validating the diagnostic findings and recommendations with key stakeholders. The diagnostic will inform the development of a National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy (NFIDS) for Yemen, which will be developed jointly by the World Bank and the CBY-Aden in consultation with other stakeholders. The NFIDS would present best estimates of current levels of financial inclusion of individuals and MSMEs and the status of financial sector development; set financial inclusion and development goals, objectives, and targets; identify opportunities and a sequenced set of actions to achieve the objectives, and key performance indicators to monitor outputs and outcomes; and, define institutional arrangements to implement and monitor the strategy. The NFIDS would also draw on other available assessments, and available demand side and supply-side data. Once a draft NFIDS is developed, the WB staff team will support the Central Bank of Yemen Aden (CBY-Aden) in validating the NFIDS through a validation workshop, securing its approval by the appropriate authorities, and organizing a public launch.1. Background Yemens economic crisis reflects a decade of conflict and institutional fragmentation. Since 2015, real GDP per capita has declined by nearly 60 percent. The country now operates as two economic zones: areas under Houthi control host about 70 percent of the population, while hydrocarbon-rich areas are under the Internationally Recognized Government (IRG). Oil production remains constrained by the export blockade in place since October 2022, limited investment, and ongoing insecurity. Non-oil sectors face significant constraints, including limited access to finance, disrupted supply chains, overlapping tax regimes, weak governance, and regulatory distortions.The decision to relocate the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) from Sanaa to Aden in 2016 has led to the fragmentation of the financial sector. This has led to two central banks currently in Yemen, the CBY-Sanaa, controlled by the Houthis, and the CBY-Aden, controlled by the IRG. Yemens financial sector structure reflects the division caused by the ongoing conflict, with banks and other financial services providers operating in two distinct regions under the regulation and supervision of the two Central Banks, leading also to the bifurcation of the value of the Yemeni Riyal (YER) into two separate values or versions of the currency in the two areas. While the banking system has continued to operate with three categories of banks commercial banks, Islamic banks and microfinance banks, its role in financial intermediation has been decreasing. Bank credit to the private sector has been on a decreasing trend; private sector credit to GDP ratio has decreased from around 8 percent in 2009 to an estimated 2.4 percent in 2021 (as compared to 53 percent for the MENAAP region in 2020, World Development Indicators). In recent years, in many banks have shifted their headquarters to Aden to avoid sanctions and enable their continued operations.The conflict and challenges faced by the financial sector have also constrained financial inclusion. According to latest data available from the WBs Global Findex database, in 2022, only 12 percent of Yemenis over the age of 15 had a transaction account (a bank account or an e-wallet). Not surprisingly, this figure is much lower than the average for the MENAAP[1] region (39 percent in 2021 and 47 percent in 2024) and in low-income countries (31 in 2021and 33 percent in 2024). Gender and geographic differentials in access to accounts is estimated to be very high; only 5% of women and only 8% of rural residents are estimated to have accounts. Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) face significant access to finance constraints. In 2022, under 10 percent of formal firms reported having a loan (Yemen Enterprise Survey 2022); this compared to 25 percent in the MENAAP region (World Bank Enterprise Surveys).[2] 2. Scope of WorkThe scope of work expected to be undertaken by the consultancy firm is described below: a. Conduct survey of FSPs: The FSP survey should cover all bank and non-bank FSPs and microfinance programs active in IRG areas. The FSP survey should be administered to the FSPs in both English and Arabic and be complemented by hands-on support to FSPs for completing the survey, obtain missing information, and correct information that is found to be incorrect on review. The survey should assess the outreach and performance of the FSPs covering their engagement across Yemen; their growth trends; and their policies, business model, and practices relevant to financial inclusion. The survey should cover the following dimensions and primarily require objective responses (rather than open-ended ones) to enable effective analysis: i. Customers served: segregated by gender, location, age for individuals and special groups such as IDPs, if available; for enterprises, segregated by size and location; 5-year growth trends; key constraints and opportunities for growth. ii. Products and services delivered: types of products and services (accounts, payments, credit, insurance, savings) offered (Islamic and non-Islamic) and their uptake; 5-year growth trends; access and use of public support programs such lines of credit and credit guarantees; key constraints to delivering profitable products. iii. Service delivery channels: existing channels (physical and digital); number of access points, growth trends and, regulatory and infrastructural barriers to expansion such as agent regulation, customer due diligence. iv. People: number and profile of management, staff, agents by gender; and retention/turnover. v. Laws and Regulations: Identify legal and regulatory gaps that inhibit business development in terms of current of potential products, which could cover: i) financial inclusion, ii) payments, iii) credit markets and MSME finance, iv) financial consumer protection; and v) supervision of bank and non-bank FIs. vi. Product Gaps: Obtain views on reasons for product gaps that exist in the market and any changes that could be made to incentivize FSPs to develop new products vii. Key Policies, Business Model and Practices: pricing (interest/premium, fees); financial consumer protection (disclosure and dispute resolution); compliance with key CBY regulations relevant to financial inclusion, particularly FCP regulation; challenges to compliance. The consultancy firm will seek TTL approval for three interim deliverables: i) draft survey instrument, ii) draft survey report, and iii) draft PPT, and two final deliverables: i) final survey report, and ii) a power point presentation of the main findings of the survey. b. Interview key relevant public and private sector stakeholders: The stakeholder interviews should be carried out in Arabic, and should include, at the minimum, the following stakeholders:a. Select Ministries Finance, Ind and Social Affair and Labor, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (MCIT) /National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority b. Select Government Agencies Social Fund for Development, Yemen MF Network, Yemen Loan Guarantee, c. CBY Management and relevant departments (banking supervision, consumer protection, payments) d. Select commercial, Islamic and microfinance banks. e. Yemen Post f. Select money exchangers g. Fintechs (mobile wallet provider + MSE lender) h. Major telecom service providersi. Select NGOs UNICEF, UNDP, Care, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Cash and Market Working Group The interview questionnaires should also be tailored to the relevant mandate, functions and roles of the stakeholder. The interviews should aim to obtain information on policies, practices and programs relevant to NFID, and should aim to obtain insights on maintaining financial stability and key constraints and opportunities to expanding financial inclusion in Yemen. The interviews with the FSPs should be undertaken after the responses to the survey are obtained and complement information from the FSP survey. The consultancy firm will seek TTL approval for the draft stakeholder questionnaires, revised questionnaires, draft interviews report, and final interview report.c. Prepare Draft NFID Diagnostic Report: Drawing on the survey data, regulatory data provided by CBY, and information obtained through interviews, the consulting firm should prepare a draft report that includes current status of financial inclusion and development; key findings from the survey and stakeholder interviews, and recommendations on legal, regulatory and policy reforms and other actions that can be taken by stakeholders to advance financial inclusion and development in Yemen. The report should cover the following: · Current state of financial inclusion and development: Current levels and trends in access, usage and gaps in individual financial inclusion across core set of products (accounts, payments, credit, insurance, savings) and demogra Tender Link : https://wbgeprocure-rfxnow.worldbank.org/rfxnow/public/advertisement/7244/view.html
|
